Banh Tam cari

Banh Tam Cari is a Vietnamese preparation made of special rice noodles and and very spicy chicken curry. It is really a Ca Mau specialty. Ca Mau is a Vietnamese name that refers to a province or peninsula in Vietnam.

Banh is a Vietnamese term,which means 'cake','bread' or 'a variety of cooked food'. Vietnamese cuisine is widely available in countries with strong Vietnamese immigrant communities such as Australia, the United States, Canada and France. It is also popular in Japan, Korea , Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Russia, Laos, Thailand and in areas with dense Asian population.

Vietnamese cuisine is influenced by Asian principle of five elements. Many Vietnamese dishes include five spices, spicy[metal], sour[wood], bitter[fire], salty[water], and sweet[earth] corresponding to five organs, gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, stomach and urinary bladder. They also try to have five colors, white, green, yellow, red and black in their dishes.

In Banh Tam Cari, these five colors are there from rice noodles, herbs, spices, and chicken curry. The principle of 'yin and yang' is applied in selecting the ingredients of a dish, and the dishes of a meal, and in matching dishes,the climatic conditions, the prevalent environment and the current physical well being of the diners are taken into consideration. Chicken is considered "warm" and dishes with chicken are usually eaten in cold winters.

Rice vermicelli soup (Bún riêu)

Bún riêu is a Vietnamese meat rice vermicelli soup. There are several varieties of bún riêu, including bún riêu cua, bún riêu cá, and bún riêu ốc.

Bún riêu cua is served with tomato broth and topped with crab or shrimp paste. In this dish, various freshwater paddy crabs are used, including the brown paddy crab found in rice paddies in Vietnam. The crabs are cleaned by being placed in clean water to remove dirt and sand. The crabs are pounded with the shell on to a fine paste. This paste is strained and the crab liquid is a base for the soup along with tomato. The crab residue is used as the basis for crab cakes. Other ingredients for this dish are: fried tofu, mẻ or giấm bổng (kinds of rice vinegar), Garcinia multiflora Champ., annatto seeds (hạt điều màu) to redden the broth, huyết (congealed pig's blood), split water spinach stems, shredded banana flower, rau kinh giới (Elsholtzia ciliata), spearmint, perilla, bean sprouts and chả chay (vegetarian sausage). This dish is rich in nutrition: calcium from the ground crab shells, iron from the congealed pig's blood, and vitamins and fiber from the vegetables.

Banh Bot Loc (Vietnamese Clear Shrimp and Pork Dumplings)

My mom actually comes from a family of 9 children and never got past the 6th grade in Vietnam because in order to support the family, she had be in charge of selling our family’s meat and butcher stall a local market near our family’s house, Cho Nhat Tao near Nguyen Tri Phuong and Ba Hat street in District 10 of Saigon. The 6th grade! I think I was busy skateboarding, listening to 80′s new wave and playing nintendo at that age.

For those who have never been to Vietnam, some of the best foods are not in restaurants, but at food stalls in markets or make shift restaurants along the street where they make one or two items and make it with pride extremely well. It was here where she learned her cooking skills to cook for the entire family. She taught my uncle and aunt how to cook and now the both have restaurants in Hartford.

So when my family was over a few weeks ago, it was good to cook with her and learn a new dish because most of the time I’m always calling her about certain recipes or techniques. We decided to make banh bot loc which is another central Vietnamese specialty made of tapoica flour which becomes clear and translucent when cooked. While the shrimp and pork filling in these dumplings are similar to many Asian dumplings, what sets this apart is its characteristic chewiness. While it shouldn’t be jaw-numbing, the chewy and sticky consistency is a textural delight that we love.

There are two major variations of this dish. One is that each dumpling is wrapped and steamed in banana leaf. The other is to boil the dumplings sans banana leaf. The banana leaf certainly adds a nice aroma to it, but is certainly more time consuming and requires a totally different method of preparation compared to without banana leaf

Hue royal dinner

When ecotourism and marine tourism are seem to be in saturated in destination, many tourists started targeting culinary tours for their vacation. Food products Hue "royal dinner" is attracting not a small amount of customers is one example.

There was a king named King Tu Duc who ruled from 1848 to 1883 lived a life of truly imperial luxury: at every meal, 50 chefs prepared 50 dishes served by 50 servants and 50 artists to play music and dance. Since then, royal meal became a kind of special talk (story) in cultural life of Vietnam.

Let’s pretending you are the King, beside you is the Queen accompanied by tens of servants, all wear traditional royal clothes. All the served food is royal including dishes reminding dragon, phoenix, or peacock. They are not only looking so nice on the outside but also taste even better.

Furthermore, there is another crucial feature of Royal dinner, a ceremony with a lot of interesting rules. Before the first drink for the King health, there is a short speech made by servant chief. Everyone has to say "Van tue" (which means “10 thousand year”) to wish the King a long life. The best royal music and dance will be performed by artists coming from Hue conservatory. Nothing is better than enjoying a delicious food while listening to melodious music and having a feeling of being the King. That is why Royal dinner is a must for those who come to Hue, Vietnam. 

Here are some royal dishes

Royal Spring roll & Pheonix pate

Kim qui rice

Kim Long Minced pork around sugarcane

Golden fish

Lotus rice

Fried squid with lemongrass and chilli

Lotus stem salad

A refreshing dish for hot days, “gỏi ngó sen” is healthy, vibrant, delicious on its own and certainly crunchy. The most special taste comes from the pure flavor and crunchy texture of pickled lotus stem. What is more, it is easy to make. The main ingredients are lotus root, carrot, tender pork, shrimp, shallot, coriander, mint, onion, and roasted peanut with the appetizing dressing being as an integral part of the dish. First, boil the pork shoulder and shrimp separately in water with a little of salt and sugar added; let they cool, then slice the pork as thin as possible, de-shell and de-vein the shrimp. Next, rinse out pickled lotus stem, pickled carrots, cut or slice them into pieces and drain them. Then, coarsely chop the fresh coriander, mint, and cilantro and mix them together with above ingredients with a gentle toss. The dressing poured into the concoction is a perfect combination of hot, sour, spicy, salty, and sweet. Finally, crispy fried shallots, roasted peanuts sprinkled over the dish make it look much tastier with a nutty flavor. It is commonly served with prawn crackers. Enjoy it and you definitely never forget its refreshing flavor and amazing crunchy texture.